Bewitching the Duke

Selina watched as Colin reached the stairs. “Go down the steps,” she whispered.

Why wasn’t he moving? She had to get him out of the corridor so she could run upstairs to the room where her dresses were. He grabbed the railing and she was certain he was about to depart. Instead, his legs didn’t move.

“Go,” she whispered again.

Finally, he started down the steps. Releasing a long breath, she raced out of his room and up the back staircase. She reached her room and closed the door behind her. She pulled out a dress from the linen press and quickly dressed. She had no idea what had actually happened to Davie Patterson’s shoulder, but his mother would be worried sick.

She pulled her small valise out from under the bed. After putting on her short boots and tying her hair back, she ran back down the servants’ steps. Thankfully, no one saw her and she was outside in only a few seconds.

Following the path with light from the full moon, she walked toward the Pattersons’ house. A branch snapped behind her. Selina stopped to peer back toward the house.

“Is there a reason you didn’t wait for me?”

She let out a sigh. “I had no idea you would want to accompany me.”

Colin caught up with her. “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

“How do you think I deliver babies? They rarely seem to arrive during the daylight.”

“You should have a servant to go with you.”

Selina laughed and shook her head. “You wealthy lords have no idea how anyone else lives, do you?”

He stopped. “Of course I do.”

“No, you do not. I barely afford the rent here. Many times, it’s only because the tenants all pitch in when I’m short. I can’t afford a servant or a horse.”

“But I can,” he said slowly.

“Do not even think it,” she scolded him. “I am not your mistress and will not take charity from you.”

He nodded. “I understand.”

She doubted he had any idea of what she went through every month. The tenants did their best to pay her but most had little to their own name. She sold her poultices and dried herbs at the market but the money rarely was enough for the rent.

Not that she would have to worry about it this month. She’d be damned if she paid him a farthing while she hid out in his house.

“How much farther is it to the house?” he asked.

“Haven’t you called on Mrs. Patterson since your return?”

He turned his head away. It was far too dark to notice if he had the good sense to look embarrassed.

“You haven’t called on your tenants, have you?”

“I don’t know them any longer,” he said softly. “I only know the names from the ledger my steward sends me every month.”

“It’s time you paid a call on every one of them. And you shall start tomorrow afternoon.”

“Selina,” he said, then paused for a long moment. “They hate me.”

“They don’t hate you.” Perhaps extreme dislike in some cases but not all. “If you give them a chance to get to know you, they will come to appreciate all that you do.”

“And what exactly do I do for them?”

He would have to ask such a difficult question. “You provide them with a home. They have excellent farmland. You give them a generous stipend for their crops.”

“I don’t make an appearance on this land for eight years. I don’t make necessary repairs on their homes or my own.”